Walk Through and Jump to Points in Video

Creating Shared Content

First, scroll through the Shared Content folder by clicking the plus sign to the left of the folder.

Expand the Shared Content folder to reveal all the folders and pages inside it.

Find the specific folder your shared content should go in.

Once you get to the folder you want, right-click on it and select Insert.

Select Shared Content Item from the pop-up list.

You will be asked to name your shared content page.

Name it accordingly, dashes aren’t necessary for shared content pages.

Click OK and move to the content loading dock on the right side of the page.

You will notice that the look of this content editor loading dock is different from the one you usually see when creating a page.

It is far more simplified.

You have one field for Heading and another for Content.

Heading is optional, and most people choose to ignore this field.

What we want to focus on is the Content field.

Lock your page so you can edit it.

Double-click Content field or click Show Editor to bring up the text editor window.

Paste and/or create your content in this window.

Make sure you use the clipboards to avoid weird formatting issues.

You can add links, tables and pictures to this page just like you did in the primary content text editor.

When you have finished your Shared Content page, click Accept.

Save your work.

Loading Shared Content

Now you can put that content into your page build.

Go into the Content Tree and find the folder and appropriate page you would like to add your Shared Content into.

When you have found your page in the Content Tree, click it and move to the content loading dock to add your shared content. Move cursor to the Content Loading Dock.

Make sure your page is locked for editing.

Now, scroll down to find the Shared Content field in the Content Loading Dock.

Double-click this field or click show editor.

A dialog window will pop up with two columns.

On the left is the Shared Content Tree.

The right side shows what shared content you have already selected for your page build.

Find the shared content page you want to share on your specific page within the shared content tree in this dialog box.

Select the file.

Now use the blue arrow pointing to the right.

Your selection is now visible in the right field of the window.

If you happen to add something you did not want to, just select it and then click on the blue arrow pointing to the left to remove it.

As you can see this means you can add multiple shared content pages to your page build at once.

If you would like to change the order of these pages in your page build you can use the blue up and down arrows to rearrange them.

When you have added all the shared content pages you want and organized them, click OK.

You will now be returned to the Content Loading Dock.

Shared Content's Simplicity

Look under the shared content field and you will see the pages you selected as icons.

Now Save your work and Preview your page to see how it looks.

You can add the same Shared Content pages to multiple page builds by repeating this simple process.

The best thing about Shared Content is that if you ever need to change it, you only have to change it on the specific shared content page it was created on.

For instance, say you have a list of restaurants as a shared content page and one of the restaurants goes out of business.

Instead of having to delete that restaurant from every single page that linked to the master list, you can just delete it from the list on the shared content page and they will all be updated.

FAQ

I can't see the content in my page build, how do I know it is right?

You need to check shared content in the content tree to make sure it is the content you want. It will only show up in your loading dock as an icon. After you insert the shared content you want into your page build make sure you save and preview to see how it will actually look on your live site.

How can I make changes to shared content?

Currently we can do that for you but if you create your own shared content, you will be responsible for making any changes to that yourself by opening it up and editing it just like any other page in Sitecore.

Why can't I link to shared content?

Thems the breaks! But you can easily create a page that you remove from the sitemap that contains the shared content you want to link to and then use that page like any other internal link.

Best Practices

Not everything needs to be shared content.

Shared content is best used for lists or text and images that are used on multiple pages.

Due to the nature of shared content, you can not split up the text in the shared content. It is static.

Check the links in shared content before you insert it into your page, just like any other page the external links can sometimes be broken.

Don't over use shared content.

Your content should be the bulk of what engages the users, shared content is a supplement.